What’s Trust Got to Do With It?
May 25, 2010 | Leave a Comment
“I don’t care who you are or what your title is, if I don’t trust you, I can’t work with you!”, Louis said vehemently.
We were in a leadership development workshop, discussing the integral role that trust plays within an organization, particularly between a manager and his or her team members. Louis serves as a Lead Operator on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. His rationale behind this statement isn’t hard to understand. In his role, he puts life and limb on the line every day, and if he can’t be absolutely sure that his co-workers are being safe and not cutting corners, he doesn’t want to work with them.
You may not be in a life and death situation in your workplace, but I can assure you, trust is just as important. Trust is an integral part of being a leader, whether you’re a leader by title or by influence. Frankly, it is an important part of any relationship.
Stephen Covey, author of “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” compares trust in a relationship to an emotional bank account. We can make deposits or withdrawals to the account. When we follow through and do what we say we’re going to do, we’re making deposits. If we make enough deposits, trust is earned and our account earns interest and grows. When we let someone down or fail to honor a commitment, we make a withdrawal. If we make too many withdrawals, our “account” will be “overdrawn” and trust is shaken.
Trust can’t be compartmentalized. Cheryl Biehl says, “One of the realities of life is that if you can’t trust a person at all points, you can’t truly trust him at any point”. To earn trust, our actions must be consistent. If I’m only trustworthy in some things but not all, it’s like cooking a huge pot of gumbo, then adding strychnine to the pot and saying that only part of the gumbo is poisoned. Now, give me a shot or two of Tabasco in my gumbo, but I’ll pass on the poison! Consistency is the key.
Are you earning your team members’ trust by acting consistently?
It goes both ways, too. “He who trusts in others will be trusted in return.” One thing that is apparently tough for many leaders to do is to place their trust in others. When I was just starting out in my career, I worked with a manager who assigned me an important project and let me run with it. Nothing could have been more motivating or inspiring than having her place her confidence in me. I truly wanted to do a great job so that I could show her she had made the right judgment call.
When you let a team member know that you believe in them, they will want to produce positive results – they’ll run through a brick wall for you – anything not to let you down.
Think about someone who made a significant difference in your life. Maybe it was a boss, coach, teacher, or even a parent or grandparent. Think about how it felt when they expressed their confidence in your abilities.
Are you showing your team members that you believe in them?
What’s trust got to do with it? In leadership and in relationships, it’s got everything to do with it.
Fired Up! Or Burnt Out?
May 7, 2010 | Leave a Comment
We’re all being asked to do more with less these days, but some people are feeling the pressures more than others. Are your employees still Fired Up! about their jobs, or are they Burnt Out?
I’ve heard from friends and colleagues lately that they are seeing more disengaged employees than ever before. Dubbed “The Walking Dead” by many management experts, these are the employees who are just going through the motions. They do the absolute minimum that they have to do just to get by. I’m willing to bet that you pictured a co-worker or team member when you read that last sentence. Yep, we all know at least one person who is burnt out, checked out, and pooped out. And yet, he or she is still taking up space on the job. (Hopefully it’s not you!)
The sad part about all of this is that disengaged workers were usually once engaged, enthusiastic, productive workers. So why do they become so discouraged? Disengagement typically begins with a change in the work – whether it’s a new boss, assignments, a change in work location, or being overwhelmed with extra duties, etc. There are a variety of reasons why people check out.
More commonly people get disengaged because they get little or no support from their leaders. My friend and colleague was telling me recently that she is nearing the point of burn out because although she’s been pulling extra weight for quite some time and doing a great job, she gets no acknowledgement, appreciation or recognition from her boss.
As leaders, we all need to be concerned about disengaged employees. Why? Because disengaged employees eat into your organization’s bottom-line, while breaking the spirits of co-workers. Disengaged workers are much more likely to:
- Be less productive
- Have an accident
- Cause errors
- Have an absenteeism and/or tardiness problem
- Provide poor customer service
Okay, before I get you totally depressed, let’s talk about what you can do as a leader to prevent disengagement, and maybe even re-engage those on their way to the check-out counter.
- Show some love! – Let your team members know how much you appreciate their efforts. A little bit of recognition goes a long way.
- Treat employees as individuals – A one-size-fits-all approach to leadership just won’t cut it. Honor individuality and results, not the process or how they arrived at the results.
- Create a greenhouse for your employees to grow – It is vital that team members have opportunities to continue to learn and develop their skills.
- Make employees partners – Clue them in to the big picture. Let them know the rationale behind what they are doing so that they can take pride and ownership in their work.
- Pay attention to top performers – They are always the first to leave if they become discouraged. Acknowledge their efforts. Sometimes just having you notice that they did their job with pride is enough to reignite them.
- Deal with poor performers quickly – Stop the spread of the “disease” before it gets to your top performers. When a leader ignores the poor performance of one worker, the morale of others is affected.
- Respect employees –What you do as a leader is like a boomerang. It will always come back to you. If you treat people with respect, you’ll likely be treated the same way, and vice versa.
You as a leader have tremendous impact on those around you. Just letting team members see that you’re concerned about them may be enough to reignite their enthusiasm and get them Fired Up!
Fired Up! Or Burnt Out?
May 6, 2010 | Leave a Comment
We’re all being asked to do more with less these days, but some people are feeling the pressures more than others. Are your employees still Fired Up! about their jobs, or are they Burnt Out?
I’ve heard from friends and colleagues lately that they are seeing more disengaged employees than ever before. Dubbed “The Walking Dead” by many management experts, these are the employees who are just going through the motions. They do the absolute minimum that they have to do just to get by. I’m willing to bet that you pictured a co-worker or team member when you read that last sentence. Yep, we all know at least one person who is burnt out, checked out, and pooped out. And yet, he or she is still taking up space on the job. (Hopefully it’s not you!)
The sad part about all of this is that disengaged workers were usually once engaged, enthusiastic, productive workers. So why do they become so discouraged? Disengagement typically begins with a change in the work – whether it’s a new boss, assignments, a change in work location, or being overwhelmed with extra duties, etc. There are a variety of reasons why people check out.
More commonly people get disengaged because they get little or no support from their leaders. My friend and colleague was telling me recently that she is nearing the point of burn out because although she’s been pulling extra weight for quite some time and doing a great job, she gets no acknowledgement, appreciation or recognition from her boss.
As leaders, we all need to be concerned about disengaged employees. Why? Because disengaged employees eat into your organization’s bottom-line, while breaking the spirits of co-workers. Disengaged workers are much more likely to:
- Be less productive
- Have an accident
- Cause errors
- Have an absenteeism and/or tardiness problem
- Provide poor customer service
Okay, before I get you totally depressed, let’s talk about what you can do as a leader to prevent disengagement, and maybe even re-engage those on their way to the check-out counter.
- Show some love! – Let your team members know how much you appreciate their efforts. A little bit of recognition goes a long way.
- Treat employees as individuals – A one-size-fits-all approach to leadership just won’t cut it. Honor individuality and results, not the process or how they arrived at the results.
- Create a greenhouse for your employees to grow – It is vital that team members have opportunities to continue to learn and develop their skills.
- Make employees partners – Clue them in to the big picture. Let them know the rationale behind what they are doing so that they can take pride and ownership in their work.
- Pay attention to top performers – They are always the first to leave if they become discouraged. Acknowledge their efforts. Sometimes just having you notice that they did their job with pride is enough to reignite them.
- Deal with poor performers quickly – Stop the spread of the “disease” before it gets to your top performers. When a leader ignores the poor performance of one worker, the morale of others is affected.
- Respect employees –What you do as a leader is like a boomerang. It will always come back to you. If you treat people with respect, you’ll likely be treated the same way, and vice versa.
You as a leader have tremendous impact on those around you. Just letting team members see that you’re concerned about them may be enough to reignite their enthusiasm and get them Fired Up!
Engaging Keynotes
May 3, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Grab your Youtube Channel
April 23, 2010 | Leave a Comment
Businesses are using YouTube for marketing, education, communications, product information, technical instruction and inspiration.
Here are 5 steps to create your own Youtube Channel:
- Decide on your Youtube Channel Name. This name will entered as the USERNAME in the account creation process.
- Go to Youtube.com and click Create Account.
Username becomes Channel name. For corporate branding, you will likely make the username your business or brand name.For personal branding, the username should be your first and last name. - Develop your profile.
Enter your website, company name, first and last name. Fill your profile with details about the contents of your channel. Consider how people will search for content like yours and include those keywords in your profile. Always match your text content to your video content. - Develop Your channel .
Customize your channel by entering a Channel Title, Description, keywords and colors. - Post your first video! You can use existing professional video, create one with a webcam or utilize a simple camera like the FLIP.
Grab your Youtube Channel now even if you aren’t ready to post video. You don’t want to lose rights to your branded Youtube Channel URL.
Can I merge 2 LinkedIn profiles into one?
January 5, 2010 | Leave a Comment
I’ve had several people ask me this question over the last year or two: Can I merge two LinkedIn profiles into one?
Unfortunately, there isn’t a merge feature yet!
So, you will need to decide which profile to keep and which to delete. Decide based on number of connections and/or how developed your profile is.
Tip: I would keep the one with the most connections and move the profile data.
Here are some steps to help you successfully move to a single profile:
1. Login to the Account you want to delete.
2. Export the Connections to an csv or excel file. (See link at bottom of Connections)
3. Save all profile info into a Word Document.
4. Delete the account.(Go to Account & Settings and Close the account.)
5. Login to the account you want to keep.
6. Import the Connections stored in file from deleted account and re-invite them to connect on the correct profile. Offer an explanation since they were already connections on the other profile.
7. Update your profile as needed.
8. Associate multiple email addresses with your LinkedIn account so that people can find you by any of your email addresses. (Go to Account & Settings and Add Email under Personal Info.)
I hope this helps! For more social media tips or to ask your questions, become a Fan on Facebook.com/SocialMediaExplained
December 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Michelle Cullison has equipped hundreds of professionals to leverage the power of social media and the web for business. She will engage your audience with examples of new media applied and inspire them to implement social media strategies to solve real business problems.
As a meeting planner, you have many speakers options available. When looking for a social media specialist, finding someone with technical expertise and excellent presentation skills is essential. Michelle provides both! Her programs are fast-paced, content rich and technically strong while her style is warm, relaxed and approachable – a rare combination for technical speakers.
Business Meetings
December 18, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Seminars, Training, Breakout Sessions
December 17, 2009 | Leave a Comment
New Faceted Search on LinkedIn
December 15, 2009 | Leave a Comment
Intuitive, precision, dynamic search with less complicated queries-that’s what the new faceted search feature offers! You’ll find the new filters on the left of the people search page in LinkedIn. The filter fields available are unique to your search. Powerful! With faceted search, you may drill down by relationship (Connection Level) , Industry, Company, Group, School and more.
Check out this product feature announcement from LinkedIn onYoutube.
